Adjustable vehicular desk



Dec. 2, 1958 s. l. wADswoRTH ADJUSTABLE VEHICULAR DESK 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 18, 1956 INVENToR. SHNPDHD LWHDswmR-L'H Dec. 2, 1958 syl. wADswoRTH 2,862,328

ADJUSTABLE VEHICULAR DESK Filed oct. 18, 1956 2 sheets-shea*b 2 INVENTOR. SHN? man I- WaDswmH-rI-I I Patented Dec. 2, 1958 j I -"z,'s6,s2s A -ADJUSTABLE VEHICULAR DESK `Sai'liord I. Wadsworth, Jackson Heights, N. Y. Application October 18, 1956, Serial No. 616,630

v z claims. 14s-s3) of the vehicle, and adapted to be adjusted between a depending and out of use position and an elevated or slightly inclined in use position.

It is another object of the invention to'provide a multi- Y positionable vehicular desk adapted for attachment to the instrument board of a vehicle or similar support in which the attaching bracket has opposing discs with a ball detent disposed therebetween and cooperable therewith to permit easy rolling adjustment of the` deskpad l 2 is a transverse sectional View taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is an-enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken Y on line 3'-3 of Fig. 1 and through the combined pencil and sheet vholder with the spring projection in locking position to hold paper sheets against removal from the tray on the underside of the pad,

Fig. 4 is a side elevational View of the vehiculardesk with illustration made as to the manner in which the desk pad can be lowered or raised between out of use and use positions,

Fig. 5 is an enlarged transverse sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. l and Athrough the disc parts of the bracket, Y

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view looking upon one of the bracket discs and as viewed on line 6-6 of Fig.Y 5,

Fig. 7 is an elevational View looking upon the face' ofl one of the discs of a modiiied form of the invention, Y.

Fig; 8 is a vertical sectional view of the-form of the i invention shown in Fig. 7, the view being taken on line' 8-.8 v thereof,

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary vertical ysectional view of another ball detent arrangement wherein the ball detent is retained between the bracket discs,

Fig. 10 is a vertical sectional View taken on line 10-10 of Fig. 9,

Fig. ll Iis a fragmentary plan view of the bracket modl ied to be attached to the top of the dashboard rather than to the underside thereof,

between multiple positions vyet sufficiently biased to irrn-` Y 1y hold thefdesk pad in any of the adjusted positions whereby the adjustment of the desk pad can be easily etfected merely Aby applying lifting or lowering pressure tothefreeendofthepad, i

It is still another object of the invention to provide a multi-positionable Vehicular desk which has an open tray fixed to the'underside of the writing padV and open at the,

one side thereof to permit the insertion and removal of papers. y

lIt is a further object of the invention to provide a multi-positionable vehicular desk having an open tray on the underside thereof with a pencil operated retainer to prevent the removal of papers from the trayr when the pencil holder sleeve is xed within a sleeve on the top surface of the pad and automatically releasable as the pencil is withdrawn from the sleeve and the desk put into use.

It is a still further object of the-invention to provide in a multi-positionable vehicular desk comprising a bracket support and a desk pad wherein the bracket support may be rigidly fixed to the vehicle while permitting the pad part to be removable therefrom so that the user can take the pad with him upon leaving the vehicle and upon his return easily slide the same into the bracket so that the desk pad can be used while being attached to the vehicle.Y Y

Other objects of the invention are to provide a multipositionable vehicular desk, Vhaving the above objects in mind, which is of simple construction, inexpensive to manufacture, has a minimum number of parts, easy to mount upon the vehicle, rigid7 durable, light in weight, compact, eflicient and effective in use.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a top plan View of the multi-positionable vehicular desk connected to an instrument board and arranged for use with the pencil removed from its sleeve holder,

Fig. l2 is afragmentary plan view of a vehiculardesk i Y with the pad releasably slide fitted to the bracket so `that Y it may be removed Ytherefrom for independent use; and

Fig. 13 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken on line 13-13 of Fig. l2.

Referring now particularly to Figs. l to 5, 20 reprel' sents a channel bracket arm having an elongated slot 21 through which a fastening screw 22 can be extended for the securement of the arm to the underside of an instru-A ment board 23 of a vehicle or other support. Thisr screw 22 is preferably spring loaded and theV bracket arm 20 can slide in and out or can be angled 4in order to adapt the desk to the drivers position. This channel bracket arm has a disc 24 rigidly connected to one side thereof and which has a plurality of angularly spaced hole depressions 24. This disc 24 is welded to the side of the bracket arm 20 as indicated at 25 Figs. 5 and 9.

.An adjustable bifurcated bracket arm 26 having spaced lateral displacement on the shaft 27. A wing nut 29" can' be tightened against a spring 31 and a washer 31 engaging the side of the projection 26 so that the ,disc 24 willU be urged toward a ball retaining disc 32 welded at p32. j

Fig. 5, to the inner side endY of the bearing projection 26. This disc has a retaining spring 33 that urges a ballv 34 toward the depressions 24 in the disc 24. r[his spring 33 is secured to the outer face of the disc 32 by a fastening screw 35. Accordingly theV bracket arm 26 can be adjusted relative to the bracket arm 20 and retained in its adjusted position by the ball detent urged into one of the depressions 24 of the disc 24. The disc 24 is urged toward the ball 34 and the disc 32 by the spring 31 that is held on the shaft 27 by the wing nut 29. y

A large desk pad or plate 36 that provides the Writing surface, is welded to the bracket arm 26. The upper end,

pivot pin 43. A spring 44 surrounds the pivot pin 43 to bias the clamp 39 toward the writingV surface. A thumb projection 39 is provided on'the clamp 39 by which the clamp canbe lifted against the action of thevspring 44Tin orderitdallcw theiiserto inserta' 'paper' sheet thereunder, or remove the same therefrom. m t `Referrir1g nowipartieularly to Figs. 9 and 10, thereis shown a niodiiledfo'rm'of a balls detentretaining'nreber In 'this forrn ofthe inventio'nlfhej bracket arniIZQ n pro3 vided with a ldisc"46having' depressions'` 46,"in'itsffaee thereof. A disc 47 having'4 similar depressions 47 is welded to bearing sleeve'prejection"276;l `at'4 7 Thesey discs 46 and 4,7`Y'oppose:diieeanotherandinterposed there-E betweenl isy an intermediate' di'sc""48 carrying ballsf49y adapted to engage with the recesses 46 and 47"."This ball carrying diso48`is rotatable'upon the shaft 27. Accordingly,` the arm'26 with the disc 47 'attached'thereto can be adjusted relative to the discH 46 and the bracket' arm 20. The s'pring'31 on the shaft 27 biasingly retains the balls in the opposingdepressions of the'disc's. Ac# cordingly, the pad 36 can be lifted and lowered'withoutA any need for releasing any of the parts. I At times, it is desired that the bracket arm, which is of'. channel section, be mounted on the top side oftheinstru# ment board rather than from underneath. Forthilspilrpose, a bracket arm 20 having a slot'21' throughiwhich the same spring loaded screw 22 is extended andtightened upon the top of the instrument board. 'This channelbracket arm is turned up with its vchannel flanges extending upwardly and a disc 24 is welded to the opposite side ange of the channel arm. This disc 24 wil'lhave the same depressions and is engaged by the ball 34 of `the'disc 32. The adjustment of the pad 36 and the bracket 26 upon the shaft 27 and bracket 20' is effectedrin the same manner as above described. v

Attimes it is desired that the pad be made separable from the bracket so as to render it quickly portable. For this purpose and as a rnodied form of the invention the arm 26 is replaced by an arm 53 that has a tapered keyway 54 in its upper face thereof. The pad 36 Vwill be replaced by a pad 51 that has a key projection 52 adapted toslidably t the keyway 54. A clamp 55 is secured upon a pivot pin 56 by its projections 57. The pin is supported` on the pad 51 by the; projections 58. The key projection 52 is also tapered so that' itfts from only one side of the keyway 54 but when wedged therein a tight rigid coni nection is effected therebetween.

On the underside of the pad there is provided a tray 60 that is attached by its flanges 61 as by welding to the underface of the pad 36. This tray has lighteningrholes 62 and a side opening 63 through which paper sheets can be' inserted or removed from the tray. In order that these sheets can be more readily graspedand drawn frornthe tray the side edge of the tray is cut away at one location thereon at 64. This tray is adapt-ed to containpaper heets, such as bills or invoices as indicated at: 65 Vin ig. 3. A pencil 67 is connected to a sleeve 68 from which extends a wire or chain 69 that is attached to a hole opening 70 in the upper end of the pad. This pencil 67 can be extended into a pencil holder'sleeve 71 that is fixed by anges 71 to the writing surface close to one side edge`thereof.

Running longitudinally through the pencil sleeve holdery 71 is a wire spring 72 that is xed at one'end 73 tothe pad surface and over which the pencil 67 can be extended to depress the spring through an elongated slot 74 in the pad 36 under the sleeve 71 and its projection 72 be made to extend downwardly through the opening 63 of the tray to provide a stop beside the paper sheets and prevent their removal therefrom either accidentally or purposely until the pencil 67 has been removed from thel pencil sleeve holder 71.

In Fig. 4, thereis shown a lamp device 76 and a cable cord 77 that will have a terminal which can be plugged into the cigarette lighter'opening in the instrument boardN invention, opposing bracket discs 86 and 87 are respectively connected to the bracket arm 20and the bearing projection 26l of the bracket arm 26, the disc 86 being secured to the bracket 2.0 by Welding 86 and the disc 87 being secured 'tov hthe bearing yprojection 26 by welding indicated at 86. The disc 86 has angularly-spaced square openings 88 adapted to receive corresponding projections 89 of the dis'c'87 in 'order to lock the discs 86 and 87 against angular displacement relative to each other. The discs are held against axial displacement by the spring 31 on the shaft 27. Recesses 90 provided on the outer face ofthe disc 87 serve torhelp the user ,locate the projectiris'894 ofthe Jdisc" 87lin the recesses 88 of the -disc 86.i "To "effect'the adjustment ofl the bracket arms of thisl forin of Vthe invention, the Wing nutl 29'can be released. f i

ItY shouldnow be apparent that there has* been provided a vehicular'4 deskY adapted, for use in vehicles, airplanes andin other places wherea mere small writing surface needed for papery sheets and whichl can be ad- Y justed between in use and out Vof use positions by adjustable "parts 'lying within the bracket thatA serves to support the writing pad on the instrument board or lother support;

It should also be apparent that there has beenprovided -a combined pencil holder .and locking projection for maintainingth'e'sheetsuof'paper stored in a tray open at one side from'unvder thewritingpad..

While various changesmay be made in the detailed construction, it shall be understoodv thatrsuch changes shall be within the spirit and scope o f the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicular desk comprising a desk pad, a tray connected tol` the underside of the desk pad and open fromvone side thereof to` permit the easy insertion or withdrawal of paper sheets, and' means adapted to' be operated by a pencil and adapted to be projected into the opening to retain the papers within the tray. Y

2. A vehicularpdesk as defined in claim 1, and saidr means forretainingmthe paper within the tray comprising a sleeve running along the top surface of the desk pad, said sleeve adapted to slidably receive a pencil, a spring elementvfixed` at one 'end and running with the sleeve,l

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 729,432 Sidway et al. May 26, 1903l 816,528 Sheldon Mayl 27, 1906 1,288,560 Gordon Dec. 24, 1918 1,398,496 Saltaiamachia Nov. 29, 1921 2,125,476. Westfrope et al Aug. 2, 1938 2,150,709 Blake Mar, 14, 1939v 2,270,948 Howe Jan. 27, 19,42 2,454,889 Shelton et al. Nov. 30, 1948 2,456,220 Shelton et al. Dec. 14, 1948 2,574,250 Dalton Nov. 6, 1951 2,657,967 Gilchrist, Nov. 3, 1953 2,665,961 Anderson` Jan. 12, 1,954 2,749,655 Ashton June 12, 1956 2,773,705V Hirak Dec. 11, 1956 n2,799,967 Molinari July 23, 1957 

